The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-01-18
Railway DETERMINATIONS Against wc.t Viz

eihin.
Tho IsrELLlaENcEn has favored tho
Interstate Com,pcice bill, not becHuse 1t
Ia a periec. measure, hut because 1t 10 q
move in tha right direction. There 10 I'M.
certainty 90 10 the eilict Of eoms of the
provisiopg, and during the discussion in
Oongresa tho strange spectacle has been
presented OF intelligent men opposing u
nsctIon or clsuoe for directly opposite
raaaona, QUO becauao tho provision would
accomplish certain end, and another
because he thought 1t would not.
This ssrves TO il'uatrate the difficulty OF
dealing with go intricate ard important a
subject. Hardahips to individuals, 10 10.
ciliLies, and to whole iudustrieu are easily
pointed out, hut the trouble is to find the
best why to remedy them, above 81 d
remedy that ehall not be worse than tho
diaeAgc. The problem would be much
simp|tled II railway mansscrs were desi'.
ons 10 DO justice to every interest; but
they prefer to 20 on - they arc. and &c
thoy beat;r themselves 10 befog the whole
4 ,4s,iun, and any effort on tho part Of the
people, through their representatives, 10
better bad csso mus. be to come extent
q striking in the dark.
II Congress had began twenty years .go
to exercise i.s right Of regulation there
would not only have been by this time
fewer abusea 10 deal with, but we shou!d
hays he'd twenty years OF valuable ex'
psrienca. This indispensable quantity We
shal! begin TO gain from tho moment the
act is put in operation. There will be
many obstacles to remove, many disap-
p,iutmenta to encounter, no doubt some
srea. errors in tho .cs to remedy, but We
shall bo learning him to get at the thing
We wish to reach and ct the came tine
: doing pome.hing to diminieh tho evils !;
which will DO al improvement over !esrn-
ing to bear moro wrongs il the dumbnesa
OF despair. ae y, as4yr
That feature pishe bill which provides
Tor railroad commission id full vi posi-
blities ioz Eocd, though it must be cd
mittcd thst III the hsncs Of svil-disposed
'aen thu power oil tho commission could
bo made oppressive. This tribunal is to
hear arybody's complaint, and If it DO
well founded, to try to remove tho GAUGE
under the law.
" Under the operations Ct this act We
shnll expect cestair DETERMINATIONS ssainst
West Virginia 10 cease. We shall expect
to see West Virginia prod ucers put back
at least as lar Esst as the p1oducero Of the
remote West, instead Of being set down in
the freight tariffs az more western than
thu great West itseis. Determinations
against West Virginia shippers have cut
both wayp, Fast and West. +
II has happened that Wheeling nails
wereshipped by wa:erto Cincinnati, thence
BY rail to Baltimore aud thence to Cum-
berlanl over the 3. & O., at leas cost than
they could DO shipped for over the came
road from Wheeling to Cumberland direct.
1t has happened that freights from Balti-
more declined for Cla,ksburg we're shipped
to Wheeling, thence back to Grafton and
thence to Clarksburg to save money,
though there was included sn unnecessary
haul OF two hundred miles. A grim pleas.
antry Of this kind might bo advantageous
to Wheeling es against Clarksburg, but it
is ono Of those Determinations against
which the people cry out with reason.
This lest named discrimination is with
in the s!ate, and so proper subject Of
State control. There is no more room to
doubt the right Of the State to regulate
railroads within it's borders than the right
Of the United States to regulate inter
State commerce. But in West Virginia
We are peculiarly situated.-We need more
railroads, and in my attempt to regulate
those wc have VIC must have 0 care lest
we prevent the building Of those We need.
II does not follow, because the matter ia
ono OF difficulty, that We ought not to con-
slider aud try to solve it in spirit OF
moderation and fairness. The railroads
and tho people ought to be on the best
terna, for they are indispensable to each
other
There is nothing revolutionary In the
simple propositions that there ought not
tobe discrimination against West Virginia,
nor asainat any part or parts OF the State
in favor Of any other part or parts, nor
against any industry or part Of an industry
in favor OF any other industry or part Of
an industry. Tho people have right to
demand common justice from common
carrier which is whatever 1t is because the
State has createdit. Common justice wrongs
nobody, snd this it is tho business Of the
State to tes tho. Tho railroads accord to
the people. Legislation to this end would
properly supplement the Interstate COM
motco bill; it would almost necessarily in
c.ude q railroad commiesion.
',e .l:gtf
Tho Proposed prohtbttory Amendment.
A largo and respectable body OF tho
people 0! West Virginia are waiting to see
what the Legislature now in session is
going to do in the matter Of the prohibit.
5 tiou Ct tho liquor traffic. It is impossible,
Of course, to say whether majority Of